Equals
by CherriesAndWolves
Summary: COMPLETE. "So you're just going to stop trying?" he asked as though he didn't know what I was talking about. Where Sasuke is an outcast and the happy, go lucky Naruto befriends him. OOC Sasuke. NaruSasu One-Shot


**Yes, this a one shot and a NaruSasu fic. It's not openly gay and leans towards the friendship between the two. People against this pairing, please click the back button.**

**Disclaimer: I do not Own Naruto**

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**Equals**

Darkness. It was a companion I was only too familiar with. Drenched with my family's tragic past, I had nowhere to go and no one to lean on. It had always been like that, ever since I had been twelve years old. I was an outsider, believed to be cursed. I didn't care who had started that lame rumor, but the fact that I was "cursed" kept people away from me. No matter how much I tried to become social, become a better person, it was all in vain.

It began in middle school. Somehow, the secret of my murdered family had leaked out to the student body. I had seen my whole family die right in front of my eyes. I didn't know who had done the crime, and, to this day, I am still unaware of the culprit.

Whispers followed me everywhere. Everyone kept away from the lone survivor of his family. The nasty rumors that had spread told the people that anyone who bothered to be my friend would have their family murdered. Just like mine. That was why I had closed away. Locked up my heart, so deep, that even I didn't know where it was anymore.

However, _he _hadn't cared. It all started all over again in high school. I was still a social outcast. My situation was worse than before. I hated high school, but there was one part, one boy, that changed my life for the better. I had lost hope by the time I turned sixteen. I would always be this way. Many would consider my type suicidal. Still, through my horrible school days, never once did I even _think _about giving up my life. "Live your life to the fullest." My brother had said knowledgeably. I had taken that advice to heart.

Throughout my twelve years of school, I made one friend. He soon became my motivation and my strength and I found myself reborn. Yes, Uzumaki Naruto changed the way I used to think. Now that I look back, I often scoff at how pathetic I was.

I met Naruto on the second day of high school. He was a cheerful boy with many friends. He seemed to give off this bright feeling that immediately drew people closer to him. Of course, we didn't become friends right away. It was after Naruto heard of my "curse". It was the first time someone had bothered to talk to me.

On the 2nd month of the first term, Naruto caught me walking to school alone. He came up to me and grinned.

"You're in my class aren't you?" he asked happily. I slowly nodded, not quite sure as to what was happening. "Let me see... Your name is Uchiha Sasuke right?" I was surprised he even knew who he was talking to. I found myself nodding again. His grin widened. "I'll see you around then." He said and ran off to join his friends.

It was the first time that I felt accepted.

***

Soon, Naruto and I got closer together. His personality was completely messed up. But I could tell that he had a good heart. His friends jeered at him for hanging around with someone like me, but he stood up for himself. He told me to go ahead and try to make friends. I told him I had tried for many years now and it was hopeless. He looked at me with a puzzled look.

"So you're just going to stop trying?" he asked simply, as though he didn't know what I was talking about.

He introduced me to his friends and slowly I was starting to get accepted into their company. His friends, and Naruto himself, had problems with high school studies. It was easy for me to help them out. Since I had always been on my own, I had found comfort in working and studying. Soon, I had the whole class coming after me for help.

I had never been happier. Obviously, showing that happiness openly was a completely different story.

Things still weren't normal, though. I was still left out of many things, but Naruto's encouragement and warm friendship kept me walking forward. Finally, in my last year of high school, I could openly say that I had friends.

After school was over and done with, a tragic thing happened. Naruto got into a car accident with his girlfriend and passed away that night in the hospital. I felt the warmth that I had gained from him over the years, slowly slip away as though the part of that bright, happy boy that was inside me was leaving, disappearing from this world, leaving me behind.

Yes, just like he had.

After a long talk with my old high school friends, I found out that I never knew much _about _Naruto. For one thing, I certainly didn't know that he was an orphan too. He had no idea what had happened to his parents and had no memory before the age of six. I at last, knew why Naruto had confronted me on that day. He had been like me. Yet, he had been able to be cheerful. Even now, I wonder how he had been able to escape the loss and the grief.

***

Right now, I, Uchiha Sasuke, am thirty years old. I work at my father's old company, which I took over shortly after Naruto's death. I still sometimes feel like giving up, but, when I close my eyes and calm down, I see that goofy face and the clear blue eyes of my friend, repeating the same thing over and over again.

"_So you're just going to stop trying?"_

***

**And that's it. Pretty short, but it turned out well. **

**~CrimsonMist92**


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